Panzer Dragoon Orta

Orta isn't quite as simple as I've made it sound. Though the concept is quite basic (and that's a good thing), there are lots of small gameplay nuances you'll have to learn to become a true master. I doubt anyone could pass Orta without stretching past the basic mechanics of shooting everything in sight. You may make it through easy difficulty with basic maneuvers, but you'll never survive normal and hard modes without developing your gameplay strategy. And if you want the best ratings, you'll need to use every trick in your dragon's arsenal.

Control Your dragon has three forms (Base Wing, Heavy Wing, and Glide Wing). You can switch to each form whenever and as often as you like by pressing the Y button. Each form has different strengths and weaknesses and you'll need to use each one in certain situations and against certain enemies if you hope to succeed. On the surface, that doesn't sound too tough. But let me assure you, when you're in the heat of a battle, you'll need to switch between forms quickly and often.

Targeting is pretty simple. Just move the reticle with the left thumbstick. In Base and Heavy Wing form you can hold down A, sweep over multiple targets and release A to fire homing missiles at them. Tapping A offers single shots directly from Orta's gun. In Glide Wing, there's no missiles, but you can shoot machine-gun rapid-fire shots at your enemies by holding down A.

Orta offers a 360 degree fighting environment, so you must attack enemies from your front, sides, and back. You can move the targeting reticle around or switch your targeting 90 degrees with the left or right trigger. Squeeze both to turn 180 degrees.

Again, the controls may seem simple enough, but gameplay will force you to maximize use of the controls. For example, you may want to use your Heavy Wing when attacking a large ship. The Heavy Wing does the most damage, so that makes sense since a battle cruiser can take a lot of punishment. But when the ship fires a volley or twenty missiles at you, the Heavy Wing is the last dragon form you want. While the Heavy and Basic Wings can lock on to multiple targets, they cannot lock on to missiles and other attacks. Instead you must repeatedly press A to fire at incoming attacks. But the fast and well-armored Glide Wing has machine-gun fire. Hold down A and you can mow down just about anything coming at you.

With enemies constantly pressing the attack, you must switch forms often simply to avoid taking a lot of damage. But you also have use of a speed boost. By pressing X you get a short burst of speed. While using speed burst, anything in your path is destroyed. It's very effective against groups of enemies that pop up right in front of you. But you don't have unlimited speed burst. It must be recharged and, in fact, can only be used by the Base and Glide Wing. You can also slow down with the B button to try and avoid an attack.

Speed is further used to gain the advantage on some enemies. Certain enemies can be circled. You can speed burst forward to get abreast or in front of them or drop speed to fall behind them. Good for avoiding attacks and for targeting weak spots.

Changing speeds and forms effectively is paramount to nailing a good rating and simply surviving on normal and hard difficulties. I played through Orta twice before I realized I could use my speed burst to take out a lot of different enemies on different occasions. There are small dynamics in Panzer, such as this, that you don't necessarily have to utilize if you don't want to, but once you find a new strategy, the game changes for you. Suddenly playing through a third time is quite different because I have a fuller arsenal.

It takes about a half hour or so to get fully used to the controls, but once you know them, they'll never leave you. And you'll discover small nuances the longer you play, learning tricks to win, teaching yourself how to become a better player.

Power-up While much of your growth depends on you as a gamer learning the game, your dragon can power up throughout the adventure. Certain enemies leave behind power-ups. Whatever dragon form you're in when you fly over them will gain one experience point. Get enough and that form will gain a level of experience, change slightly in appearance, and be a bit more bad-ass. Get a form to a high enough level and you'll see a dramatic visual improvement, particularly with the Heavy Wing form.